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Copyright 2018 Brittany Hennessy
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ISBN: 978-0-8065-3885-3
Library of Congress CIP data is available.
First electronic edition: August 2018
ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-3886-0
ISBN-10: 0-8065-3886-4
Preface
I once paid a dog $32,000 for two Facebook posts, one Instagram post, and one tweet. It probably took his owner all of three minutes to take the photos and write the captions.
This dog just made more than $10,000 per minute. Pick someone that you think is really rich. Anyone at all. That dog still made more per minute than the person youre thinking of.
You work, at minimum, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, and deal with people who sometimes make you question all of your life choices. And this dog? All he had to do was sit, roll over, and smile.
I remember cutting a $100,000 check for an influencer to shoot three YouTube videos. Drafting her contract, I paused exactly three times to regain my composure; I could not believe that I was about to pay this woman six figures to put on makeup for 18 minutes. I almost asked myself, why isnt everyone an influencer? But I already knew the answer to that: Because being an influencer is hard.
As the senior director of influencer strategy + talent partnerships at Hearst Magazines Digital Media, I cast influencers to star in co-branded campaigns for the digital versions of Seventeen , Cosmopolitan , Elle , Marie Claire , Harpers Bazaar , Redbook , Esquire, and more. That means its my job to know the universe of influencers: understand their followings and engagement; recognize their aesthetic and tone of voice; be aware of who their agents are; andand this is really importantknow how easy (or not) they are to work with on a deadline. I have booked influencers for their first campaign, introduced unsigned talent to their current agents, and given them checks so large finance has called to asked if I added one zero too many (see the previous example).
Youve probably scrolled through Instagram and thought to yourself, I could totally do that, but you might not realize that there is an art and a science to becoming a full-time influencer. Sure, it may seem like life as an influencer is limited to posting photos of yourself walking down the street or holding an ice cream cone with an impeccable manicure. But in reality, youll spend your days and nights creating content for audiences so fickle they can, and will, stop following you because you posted your Tuesday video on Wednesday. Or because they didnt like the color of your manicure in that ice cream photo. Or becauseand I have seen thisyou changed your eyebrows, you now look like a weird bird, and your face makes them uncomfortable. And thats just your audience.
When you work on campaigns, youre dealing with an entirely different animalthe brand. Most brands dont know what they want, so it becomes quite the challenge to deliver it when you dont even know what it is and they cant explain it to you. But if youre going to make money creating content, youre going to need to figure that out. What you need is a translator, someone who speaks this foreign language, can read minds and decode the cryptic emails and briefs youll receive. I volunteer as tribute.
Many people think you need to have a million followers to make good money as an influencer, but thats just not true. There are many full-time influencers with 100,000 followers who are making good money doing something they love, making us all jealous in the process. While scrolling through Instagram, I constantly see hundreds of aspiring influencers who are on the cusp of greatness, or at least financial independence, but they just need to tweak a few things here and there. I love to give people advice and figured I should put my journalism degree to use, so I decided to write this book. I was amazed something like it didnt already exist, but after dealing with influencers who demand to fly first class, you know, as if they were actual famous people, nothing really surprises me anymore.
This book was written for people who probably fall into one of three categories:
Category 1: You spend all day on Instagram and while scrolling through your feed, you cant help but critique other peoples photos. You think to yourself, I wear clothes, eat avocado toast, and like sunsets, why not me? Well, lets start at the very beginning, because thats a very good place to start. Part 1, Building Your Community will help you come up with a brand name, create content worth double tapping, and show you how to maintain an engaged community.
Category 2: You have a decent amount of followers and feel like youre pretty good at this whole content thing, but cant figure out a long-term plan. In Part 2, Packaging Your Brand, well talk metrics, public relations, and press kits.
Category 3: Brands have started approaching you because you either have a lot of followers or you lead a pretty interesting life. Maybe youre an expert in your field, youve created a company/product, or youre a dancer/musician/model/actress. Either way, when you talk, people listen, and thats what influence is all about. Part 3, Monetizing Your Influence will dive into fee negotiations, understanding your contract, and landing an agent. When you get your first check, I want 10 percent. Im kidding... but not really.
In life youre constantly asked about your five-year plan, and this doesnt change once you become a content creator. Regardless of which category you fall into, Part 4, Planning Your Future will help you turn new clients into repeat clients and turn single programs into brand ambassadorships. Well also talk about influencer collaborations and how you too can have your own makeup or fashion line.
